Leesburg Woman Found Slain

'Somebody Killed My Baby!' Said The 31-year-old Woman's Mother, Who Found Her Body Slumped Over A Bathtub.

December 24, 1996|By Lesley Clark of The Sentinel Staff

LEESBURG — When Alaphair Crosby heard that her daughter didn't show up for work Sunday night, the Fruitland Park woman sped to her only child's home in Leesburg and rushed in, calling her name.

She spotted her daughter's white hospital coat in the dining room. Then Crosby saw the body: The 31-year-old respiratory therapist was slumped over the bathtub, a single gunshot wound to her head. Her head and arms were submerged in about six inches of water.

In her bedroom, the mattress was askew and the contents of her purse had been dumped on the floor.

Leesburg police said Monday they have several leads in the shooting death of Julia Carlenia Croskey, who worked for nearly nine years at Leesburg Regional Medical Center.

''We're not questioning anybody at this point, and we don't have anyone in custody,'' said Capt. Hal Reeves. ''But this is not a cold case.''

Croskey was alive at 6 p.m. Sunday, when she chatted with a friend on the phone, Reeves said. She was supposed to report for work at 7 p.m. for a 12-hour shift. When she wasn't there, co-workers called her house. When they couldn't reach Croskey, they called her mother.

Crosby arrived at the house on Mispah Avenue about 9:30 p.m. and found the body. She told police she tried to call 911 from her daughter's house but the phone didn't work. Police declined to say whether the lines had been cut.

Crosby stumbled outside, screaming for help.

Willie Tucker, who lives two doors down from the slain woman, said Crosby appeared at her door, crying and hysterical.

''She fell in the door, and said, 'Somebody killed my baby!' '' Tucker said. ''She called 911 and said her baby was dead.''

Reeves said police want to talk to anyone in the neighborhood who saw or heard anything suspicious between 6 and 9:30 p.m.

When she was on the phone, Croskey told her friend that she had to hang up because someone was at the door, said Oliver Pinkard, who lives across the street from Croskey. The friend told Pinkard that Croskey never called her back.

Several residents said they saw two men in an unfamiliar car at Croskey's house three or four days earlier. Reeves said police don't know whether the men were involved in the slaying, and officers declined to describe the car or the men. Neighbors noticed the men because Croskey rarely had visitors other than her mother and a few friends.

The shooting first appeared to be a suicide, police said, because there was no visible gunshot wound and little blood. But police said the mattress in Croskey's bedroom had been pushed off the box spring, and the contents of her purse had been dumped on the floor next to her bed. Police said they also doubted she could have intentionally drowned herself.

The medical examiner discovered the gunshot wound to her head, police said.

Reeves said Croskey may have been shot elsewhere and her body carried into the bathroom. However, he would not say whether officers found evidence that she had been shot anywhere else in the home.

Residents said the neighborhood is quiet and close knit. Many residents have lived there for years, they said.

Croskey grew up in the house on Mispah, and it became hers when her parents moved to a larger home in Fruitland Park. She apparently lived there alone.

She had decorated the modest concrete-block house for Christmas, pinning a red ribbon to the front door and putting up candles in the windows. The house is next door to a church, the Leesburg Deliverance Center, which was packed with people at the 6 p.m. service Sunday, residents said.

The doors to Croskey's house were sealed with police tape Monday, and several residents looked at the house as they walked by.

Pinkard said Croskey was a model neighbor. She was quiet but quick with a friendly wave, he said.

''She was a nice person,'' Pinkard said. ''Far as I know, you can't find anybody to say something bad about her. She was a good person.''

Pinkard said Croskey's neighbors are horrified by her death and are eager for answers.

''If there's anything we can do, we want to know,'' Pinkard said.

Croskey, a 1983 graduate of Leesburg High School, had worked at LRMC since 1987. She had been working three days a week, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., for about a year, hospital spokeswoman Roseann Brandeburg said.

The hospital called in chaplains to help grieving employees. Brandeburg said Croskey was a popular co-worker and a diligent employee.

''She was very well-liked and an extremely hard worker,'' Brandeburg said. ''She was one of those people who would help whenever you asked. There are an awful lot of sad people here today.''

As a respiratory therapist, Croskey administered oxygen to newborns and people having trouble breathing.

Relatives and friends were at Crosby's Fruitland Park home Monday, but they said they were too distraught to talk about her.